1. Field
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to the field of wireless networking. In particular, various embodiments relate to a mobile hotspot that is managed by an access controller.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wireless access points (APs) are deployed to cover public areas, offices and residences so that wireless fidelity (WiFi)-enabled devices may be connected to a private network or the Internet through a wireless network. When a large number of APs are deployed in an enterprise network, the wireless APs are connected to a wireless access controller (AC) and are managed by the AC. The APs may retrieve the same AP profile from the AC and use the same AP profile in managing the wireless connectivity so that a WiFi client may roam between the APs and have secure network access within the enterprise network. When users are out of the area covered by the enterprise network, a virtual private network (VPN) connection between a client device and the enterprise network may be established across the Internet so that the client device may access the network in a secure way. Along with the rapid development of telecommunication technology, data transmission speeds through telecommunication data networks, such as 3G/4G cellular networks, is increasing. Most wireless operators offer mobile hotspots to their subscribers so that WiFi-enabled devices may connect to the Internet through the telecommunication network. A mobile hotspot is a router with a wireless wide area network (WWAN) and a wireless local area network (WLAN) sharing function to allow multiple WiFi stations including smart phones, notebook computers and tablet PCs to access to the WWAN simultaneously. Some smart phones also provide personal hotspot functions which turn a smart phone into a mobile hotspot and allow other WiFi-enabled devices to share the Internet connection of the smart phone. Each mobile hotspot comprises an AP profile which is a set of parameters used for establishing connections between WiFi stations and the hotspot. An AP profile typically includes connection-related information including, for example, service set identification (SSID), security, authentication, encryption, SSID broadcasted, etc.
At present, in order to establish a secure connection between a client device and an enterprise network through a mobile hotspot, the client device needs to connect to the mobile hotspot based on the AP profile. After the client device connects to the Internet through the mobile hotspot, a VPN application may be started on the client device to establish a VPN connection to the enterprise network through the Internet. Usually, a VPN server may require the VPN application to provide user authentication before the VPN connection is established. If multiple client devices need to connect to the enterprise network through the same mobile hotspot, each of the client devices needs to separately establish its own VPN connection to the enterprise network. Currently, AP profiles of APs of an enterprise network are managed by the AC and the AP profile of a mobile hotspot is managed by the service provider or the subscriber. When a client device needs to use both APs of the enterprise network and the mobile hotspot to connect to the enterprise network, the client device must use different AP profiles to establish WiFi connections. It is not convenient for the user to switch between WiFi networks. It is also currently impossible to seamlessly roam between enterprise network APs and a mobile hotspot.
Therefore, there is a need for a mobile hotspot that may be managed by an AC so that WiFi-enabled devices can connect to the mobile hotspot as well as an enterprise network easily.